"Let Them Eat Cake!"

I've ready every page of this thread just recently and it shocks me that so many of you are still under the impression that excess calories, fat, and
additives are the cause of weight gain or OBESITY. This is simply not the case, allow me to explain:

#1 - The common misconception that excess calories leads to weight gain is just bogus. Reason being, we aren't 100% efficient, nothing is. You can't
put 1000 calories in and expect to get that right back out, especially when you get it from protein, fat, carbs. The problem with the calorie theory
is that, your body doesn't use protein for energy purposes, nor does it use fat, unless you're on a ketone metabolism, which most people definitely
aren't and that leaves you with a carb aka glucose metabolism. So basically when counting calories, you should only count the calories you get from
carbohydrates, because that is what your body sees and uses as energy, protein and fat go towards other purposes in the body, such as muscle repair or
cell membrane damage, just to name a few. So just let me say this, CALORIES ARE IRRELEVANT, if you need further explanation go here:
www.second-opinions.co.uk...

#2 - Why people still think dietary fat or fat at all is the cause of weight gain is beyond me, guess its the nonsense mongering. Simple biology tells
us there is no mechanism with which to shuttle dietary fat into fat cells, you want to know what is actually shuttled into fat cells? If you've
actually done your homework and are the experts you say you are you'd know that glucose is shuttled into fat cells by insulin for storage, NOT FAT.
When the liver is full of glucose and the muscles in your body are full of it, and when the body just doesn't have enough room for glucose, you know
where it goes, FAT CELLS, simple I know but this is the true cause of obesity.Stop demonizing fat, particularly saturated/mono, and start targeting
the real villain, CARBS refined and processed(HFCS, grains, you know what I'm talking about).

#3 - I honestly don't even know why this was brought up, but additives causing weight gain? I know additives potentially cause a lot of problems once
ingested, but I guarantee you this, weight gain is not one of them.

I see there is a lot people in this thread and in 'general' who are misinformed when it comes to diet and nutrition, in the future I will share more
of my expertise with you guys, until then, do more research, health noobs

I've also heard that they put chemicals in there food that make people become addicted to certain foods.

If they feed livestock chemicals to make them "bulk up" for market, you are eating that too. Same goes for produce that is forced to grow more
rapidly than natural. You are what you eat indeed. Increduble Bulk!

Thanks for taking an interest. Really, I wish more people would. It's so devious, yet so simple. How do you starve a population without anyone
realizing until it's too late? Keep the starving people fat on artificial additives.

I was in the store the other day and saw something that I wanted to post about the cost of food. A lot of people have argued that processed food costs
more, while I have continued to argue that it does not. Partly because the ingredients in processed foods are less costly than more natural and
healthy ingredients, among other reasons.

Anyway, here's another example. There were two loaves of blueberry pound-cake. One was pre-sliced, the other was the entire loaf. The supermarket
there has their own bakery. Now I can't figure out why this would be, but it blew my mind that the pre-sliced loaf would be an entire dollar less at
$2.99 for the same number of ounces.

There was a time in my life when I was 18 or 19 years old that I was on the road at least 2 hours a day, commuting back and forth to work to my office
job where I'd sit all day. When I started this long commute, I also changed my eating behavior.

I'd go to fast food places to pick up a quick breakfast. At lunch time, my friend and co-worker would run to yet another fast food joint for our noon
meal. Then after arriving home, I'd fix a country dinner such as fried chicken, fried potatoes, and maybe a can of green beans.

I got into this fast-food routine for the next eight years of my life, rarely making time for any type of exercise. I couldn't figure out why I kept
gaining weight. I did try to analyze what I ate...a biscuit, egg, and piece of sausage for breakfast. Was that overeating? Not in my mind. I didn't
feel like I was gorging myself.

What was wrong with a hamburger and fries at lunch? I didn't feel like I was overeating. At dinner time, I ate until I was full. I never could figure
out why I was overweight and why I just kept getting fatter and fatter. I also couldn't figure out why I was always hungry.

Finally, after I reached the 300 pound mark, I went to see a dietitian/nutritionist. One of the things she advised me to do was to stop eating at fast
food restaurants.

She also encouraged me to eat a balanced diet, based on the food pyramid, as well as to start walking on a daily basis.

After taking her advice, in approximately 9 months time, I went from 300+ pounds to 140 pounds. I felt like I was actually eating more food and I
stopped feeling sluggish after eating. I also stopped feeling so hungry. I felt satisfied.

I'm in my mid-40's now, and I continue to follow a similar way of eating. I avoid fast food restaurants, I eat when I'm hungry, and I try to eat a
minimum of processed foods. I eat lots of beans and vegetables, and drink a lot of water. My weight has continued to be stable (I fluctuate between
132 - 136 pounds), but more importantly, I feel so much better since I changed my way of eating.

I recently went to a fast food joint and had a burger and fries for the first time in 15 years. I was hungry even after eating it. I was hungry an
hour later. I felt like it was just a waste.

Anyway, thanks for the post. While I don't think I was literally starving despite my obesity, I do believe that I was starving for nutrients.

Thanks for stopping by to have a read, and sharing your own highly relevant experience.

While I don't think I was literally starving despite my obesity, I do believe that I was starving for nutrients.

Which I believe to be one in the same, and that you were indeed starving to death, slowly, but quite literally. The only biological reason we eat is
to gain essential nutrients which sustain life. What difference does it make if your body ceases to function at 300 pounds or 60 pounds, directly as a
result of nutrient derpivation?

It's not the lack of "food" that causes people to starve to death. There is always something one can eat. Grass, dirt, pieces of wood or
cloth, etc., but none of those things will provide the essential nutrients to sustain life. So starvation is actually caused by the deprivation of
essential nutrients. The weight issue is a side-show, that has all to easily blinded the masses from the horrible truth. If you ate nothing but
Crisco, you would probably not lose much weight, but you will still certainly starve to death.

Starvation is the deprivation of essential nutrients. Being extremely underweight is the most common symptom of starvation, especially in
social conciousness (particulalry as the result of the Holocaust), but it's time that we wake up and realize that being severly overweight is just as
much a symptom of starvation, as being severly underwight.

Of course, I should add that neither is a certainty. There are people who are very skinny, and people who are quite chunky, who are perfectly healthy,
but that's a whole different topic really.

What never occurred to me back then when I was eating out was that fast food might be somehow less better for me in terms of nutrition than a meal I
might make at home. It also never occurred to me that eating two meals a day at fast food joints might have been part of the reason for my weight
gain.

I do know that when stopped eating out and began following my dietitian's advice, I started feeling much better. I felt less sluggish, had more
energy, and I also felt my mind was sharper. Was that the result of better nutrition and giving my body what it needed? I strongly believe it was.

Very interesting OP, I haven't read the 15-odd pages of discussion, but I'd just like to add my thoughts on it.

I don't believe this is as much a conspiracy as it is cause and effect.

The stereotypical American is not especially well educated. This implies to me they don't question too much, as this has been my experience with
uneducated types.

They don't think in the sort of wide circles discussed in the OP, and so they simply see it like this:

I am hungry -> Cheeseburgers taste good, salad tastes bland -> I like cheeseburgers more than salad -> Salad requires preparation, cheeseburgers do
not -> therefore, I will go to McBurger Joint and get a big meal, rather than go to the supermarket and select the ingredients for a healthy salad.

I'm not saying the government and corporations aren't capitalising on this or manipulating it in some way, but I think the problem stems from the
desire to take the easy way out.

Originally posted by cbianchi513
Being FAT (not the more "pc" obese, mind you) is a CHOICE. That's right- people choose to be fat, or more accurately- choose not to be fit.
I know I'm going to catch a raft of something for this... Here goes.
It only takes a bit of discipline and prior planning to construct a healthy, low fat menu on your own. My wife and I usually do this as we are
shopping for our groceries weekly. We stop at the butcher counter and talk about what we'll eat through the week, what sides, and so forth. Usually
every bit of produce we buy is fresh as well. The only freezer items we may buy is a guilty pleasure: ice cream. We seldom eat fast food, and we
seldom go "out" to eat. We don't like what the various venues have to offer.
The problem starts with parents and continues with kids. Americans are always "hurry hurry" about everything. I even had a high school teacher
comment on it 15 years ago. He called us "the microwave generation". Now I can't totally detract from the values of the microwave, but I can tell
you that (based on personal observation) a person's body fat index is directly proportionate to the amount of actual cooking that one does in the
microwave.
Fat people are generally fat due to sloth and gluttony. Last time I checked, those two items were on the "deadly sins" list.
Have fun roasting in hell, fatties!

Seriously, all it really takes is a little time management, discipline, and motivation. The rest will fall into place with experience, and it's
actually more frugal to cook for yourself.

i hate to say it but i think that although your post has some truth to it, it is not applicable to the vast majority. Now i am not going to jump on
the 'genetic' bandwagon and defend heavier people but the fact remains that the food supply is tainted to say the least.

I am going to say this from personal experience. I know five years ago, the food i ate is vastly different than the one i consume now. Only because
over the course of the last two years i have developed 'intolerances' out of the blue. I am a fully grown adult with no health issues or allergies
(except sunscreen but thats another topic in itself).

What i did find through a bit of investigative research is that a lot more fillers and additives are being included in the manufacturing process now.
A lot of it has to do with fructose - the whole thing is staggering - and the engineers and blenders in this manufacturing companies don't know what
they are being involved in as they don't question anything. They are there to do a job and that's about it. The whole directive comes from Up Top
(i.e. the people who look after the $$$) in an attempt to cut costs of production.

So essentially, when i was eating like i did five years ago, i put on weight and went from a size 0 to size 4 and that was with an extreme gym routine
most days.

There is a lot more to the manufacturing processes that the general consumer does not become aware of. For the ATS'rs here who are involved or have
access to manufacturing facilities, i would encourage you to talk to the 'blenders' and the 'batchers' otherwise talk to any purchasing officer or
manufacturing engineer within the food industry and gosh its like opening a can of worms.

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.